I never posted this last night because it got very late, so I added this paragraph and the photo above of the small snow we had this morning:)  The photo is taken from the same angle as the softball photo below, which was taken yesterday.  Minnesota, make up your mind. 

This morning, I was awakened by Mario in his room next door.  He shouted out, “Winters here, Winters here. Thank you Jesus!  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen”.  That nearly melted my heart, as well as had me flying to the window to see what he meant.  I could fill a book of all the cute, sweet and funny things our children have come up with over the years.  Thought you’d like that one above, which was blurted out all at once and with so much joy.  As for the weather today, Wednesday, let’s just say it looks pretty!  I had better post this before the weather changes again.

What a beautiful day we had today!  The weather seems to be a hot item for discussion lately.  It has been wonderful, even allowing us to butcher a beef last week. We have been blessed with an open winter, the only snow received having been on the day I picked up Nonna in Minneapolis.  I pray the dry spell will pass by Spring as we will really need the moisture for our hops.

Today was Fred’s 49th Birthday and as usual he worked the entire day, not wanting to waste an unseasonably warm day.  Marisa made his favorite apple pie and Frenchy made vanilla ice-cream.   I’ve never seen the kids do their school lessons so quickly, chomping at the bit to get out-of-doors!  Who can blame them?  I have never experienced such lovely days since moving here 26 years ago, and I must admit, I too was anxious to get outside:)  We even got in some softball practice and horseback riding which has been a frequent activity all winter. The babies and toddlers were out in strollers and wagons as well, soaking up the warmth; their mommies were thrilled to get out as well!

Normally, the snow would be piled up around here and way too cold to be out.  Another blessing of open the open winter is that the ponds are snow free and so last week we went out at night to ice skate, building a bonfire on the ice, and enjoyed a “days are getting longer” party, which was Peter’s idea. 

Fred and the boys laid manure on top of our hops plants to fertilize and insulate them, hopefully preserve any moisture they had coming into the winter.  We raked the yard, dismantled our Nativity Scene from the strawberry bed, dodged the honey bees, gave them water and observed them cleaning out the hives.  The boys and Fred also removed hardware and copper from the utility poles making them ready to use for the hops trellis’.  Mario felt like a real big guy today working alongside dad and Caleb, another blessing of family life, the young learning to work along side of father and siblings.  Marisa and Silvana worked their very young team of oxen as well.  Caleb, has done a fair amount of trapping this winter and has learned quite a bit; the traps were pulled yesterday.  The photos below were taken today, some in the morning and some later in the day. 

Happy New Year to all of you!